Democratic Sen. Cory Booker released emails from Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, even though it puts him at risk of being expelled from the Senate. Responding to the threat of expulsion, several Democrats said, "bring it on." (Sept. 6)
AP

WASHINGTON — Already prepared to vote "no," Sen. Cory Booker now does not want Judge Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court to get that far.

Booker was one of several Democrats who called for Kavanaugh's nomination to be withdrawn Wednesday after a third woman made allegations of sexual misconduct when the circuit court judge was in high school or college.

That did not happen, however, so Booker will get a chance to question Kavanaugh on Thursday when the Senate Judiciary Committee hears from him and from the first woman to make public allegations, California psychology researcher Christine Blasey Ford.

At Kavanaugh's confirmation hearings earlier this month, senators used more than their allotted time by raising objections to procedures or making motions to delay. Booker got into a back-and-forth argument with Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, over the Democrat's use, during public questioning, of documents that were supposed to be confidential. Cornyn said Booker could be expelled for violating the rules, and Booker challenged him to "bring it."

Thursday's hearing will be the first public appearance for Ford, who told the Washington Post that when she was 15, she went to a party, where she was drinking, and Kavanaugh, 17, pushed her down on a bed, tried to remove her bathing suit and held his hand over her mouth when she tried to scream. She said she escaped when Kavanaugh's friend, Mark Judge, also jumped on the bed, and she never told her parents about the incident because she was afraid of getting in trouble for drinking.

Kavanaugh and Judge denied the allegation. In a statement prepared for Thursday's hearing that was released Wednesday, Kavanaugh said that while he did things in high school "that make me cringe now ... I never did anything remotely resembling what Dr. Ford describes."

In the latest allegations, released by attorney Michael Avenatti, Julie Swetnick alleged that she went to parties where Kavanaugh and Judge would get teenage girls drunk, sometimes by drugging punch, so the girls could be gang-raped.

Mr. President, enough.

A Supreme Court nomination is not worth more than the lives of survivors. There must be a full investigation of these allegations of criminal behavior, and Judge Kavanaugh’s nomination must be withdrawn.

"A Supreme Court nomination is not worth more than the lives of survivors," Booker wrote Wednesday in a tweet addressed to President Donald Trump. "There must be a full investigation of these allegations of criminal behavior, and Judge Kavanaugh's nomination must be withdrawn."

Trump called the latest allegations a "con game" aimed at "a high quality person." Kavanaugh released a statement calling the allegations "from the Twilight Zone" and said he did not know Swetnick.

The controversy over Kavanaugh's past brought new scrutiny to a column Booker wrote as a graduate student at Stanford University about a high school experience in which he felt for a woman's breast, was pushed away, and persisted until "I reached my mark."

That information emerged because Booker wrote about it, however, not because a woman complained. And he and the woman remained friends afterward, Booker wrote in the column, which focused on his criticism of the way men treat women.

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Dozens of protesters, including sexual assault survivor Mary Jane Maestras (L) of Delta, Colorado, demonstrate against the appointment of Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh outside the offices of Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill Sept. 26, 2018 in Washington, DC. More than a dozen protesters were arrested after visiting the offices of three women senators to demonstrate against the appointment of Kavanuagh, who has been accused by at least two women of sexual assault. Chip Somodevilla, Getty Images

Alyssa Milano is comforted after telling her story of being sexually assaulted while she and dozens of other protesters demonstrate against the appointment of Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh in the office of Sen. Susan Collins on Sept. 26, 2018 Chip Somodevilla, Getty Images

Protesters use their phones to record and to live broadcast their demonstrations against the appointment of Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh while visiting senators' offices on Capitol Hill Sept. 26, 2018. Chip Somodevilla, Getty Images

Hundreds of protesters rally in the Hart Senate Office Building while demonstrating against the confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh on Capitol Hill Sept. 24, 2018 in Washington, DC. Hundreds of people from half a dozen progressive organizations, including students from Yale University Law School, protested on Capitol Hill for a #BelieveSurvivors Walkout against Judge Kavanaugh, who has been accused by at least two women of sexual assault. Chip Somodevilla, Getty Images

Demonstrators protest against the nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to be a Supreme Court Justice outside of the office of Senator Susan Collins, R-Maine, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC on Sept.24 24, 2018 as the Senate begins a week of scrutiny of President Trump's nominee to the high court. Judge Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court has been further imperiled by a second sexual-misconduct allegation, dating to his first year at Yale University. SAUL LOEB, AFP/Getty Images

US Capitol Police prepare to arrest demonstrators as they protest against the nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to be a Supreme Court Justice outside of the office of Senator Susan Collins. SAUL LOEB, AFP/Getty Images

Demonstrators fill the rotunda of the Russell Senate Office Building.as they protest against the nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to be a Supreme Court Justice on Capitol Hill. SAUL LOEB, AFP/Getty Images

A Capitol Hill staff member puts up a sign that reads "Believe Women" as she looks out her office window at a group of protesters against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh on Capitol Hill. Andrew Harnik, AP

Protestors rally against Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh as they make their way from the Supreme Court to the Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill, Sept. 24, 2018 in Washington, DC. Drew Angerer, Getty Images